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Lore
Timeline Summary Pre-Cataclysm The world was walked by mystical beings called the Avatars who brought the Virtues to the people. Cataclysm The Cataclysm, also called the Fall, occurred nearly 400 years ago. There are rumors that the Avatars caused it while at the same time they disappeared. Others say that humans attempting to follow the Avatars to their "home among the sky" build Alabastia, the City of the Sky and thus caused the wrath of the Gods for false worship. While the actual events are shrouded in mystery, it is known that the two moons collided, creating the structure of the Daedalus. Smaller shards fell, devastating the land and its people. Notions of magic and science were tilted on their heads. Where the Shard Falls appeared especially concentrated new magics and strange new creatures were found. Sariah the Blind wrote a book shortly after called Lamentation of the Fall to describe the events. The time immediately after the Cataclysm is referred to as "Age of Survival". This was followed by the "Age of the Warring Cities" when the world faced constant battles by local warlords causing the population to suffer further. According to an explorer in Desolis, Elara Solstar, the Titans were not yet known and the kobolds already existed, mocking the humans for their struggles. That claim is in contradiction to the "Blade of the Avatar" book reports where Grannus the Titan states they came to Novia during the Shard Fall and that the kobolds were created from humans later. Solstar states they were instead later used, same as humans, as precursor race to create other races. Rise of the Obsidian Empire A young orphan stole a book, The Lamentation of the Fall, in Drachvald. It inspired him to travel to Grunvald by its mentioning of "the obsidian darkness" to be the first to discover there the Shard Fall region and the special magic, chaos magic, it enabled as well as the effects it had on the local flora and fauna. He decided to abandon his former name and called himself henceforth the Obsidian Eye. While his grasp of the Obsidian magic grew so did his reputation and more and more magic users joined him. The first Obsidian to discover the pre-Fall buried ruins of Desolis was called Heb-Shar. It is not clear if that person was the same as the Obsidian Eye. But the follower of the Eye claimed the ruins as their own and the Eye used the Destiny Pool below the fortress to foretell a vision known as the Prophecy of the Obsidian Eye: : The world is fallen; fallen into chaos. : Men reached up in anger and shattered the sky. : Its blackness falls to earth like a rain of dark glass; : The ordered customs and rows of society are shattered. : All men stumble : in the blinding light of a blood red dawn. : Sightless who will not see. : Deaf to the truth they will not hear. : Mewing and wailing of and for themselves. : They kill with discordant and untamed shouts : The melodic order of their better selves. : Yet from the Obsidian’s fall shall arise : Seen only by the ordered Eye : The blade which shall render order in their midst; : Silence the voices who screech outside the ordered tune; : Darken the eyes of unwelcome vision; : And bring one vision, one voice, one song : To a world reborn in perfect twilight. : Supreme and ordered once more in its flawlessness. : Of one thought and purpose born and died. : Until only the night remains. The Eye interpreted the prophecy to mean the world was in chaos and needed to be brought to order via any means necessary. The group of his chaos magic-using followers called themselves the Cabal of the Obsidian and grew to become the leading class of the Obsidian Empire with the Central Circle at its top and the leader taking on the title of Obsidian Eye. Only the latter may gaze into the Destiny Pool and make sense of past, presence and future seen there. Another prophecy from the Destiny Pool written down by Markus Dira as well is referred to as "Dire Prophecy" or "Dirae Prophecy": : IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LONG DAYS AFTER THE FALL... : THERE SHALL COME ONE FROM BEYOND THE CIRCLES OF THE SUNDERED MOON... : WHO SHALL BIND THE WORLD TOGETHER... : FROM ITS SHATTERED STONE AND BONE SEAS... : THEY SHALL BIND TOGETHER ALL THAT FLY ABOVE THE LAND... : BURROW BENEATH IT... : AND WALK WITH PURPOSED TREAD UPON ITS SURFACE... : IN THAT DAY SHALL ALL BE BROUGHT TO BOW... : BEFORE THE POWER OF THE ONE... : THE WORLD SHALL BE SWEPT CLEAN OF ITS FOLLY... : AND CLEANSED OF ITS IMPURITY... : BEFORE THE CHOSEN ONE... : AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE HOPE... : IN THE DARKNESS SHALL BE COMPLETE. This is the Oracle version which it will re-tell upon being prompted. But the actual version (from the SotA Lore Sneak Peak) was a bit more specific: : ..it shall come to pass four long centuries after the fall : There shall come one from beyond the circles of the sundered moon : Who shall bind the world together once again : From its shattered stone and boiled seas..." Formation of the Conclave of Celestis Around 100 PC (Post Cataclysm) the impact of the Obsidian Empire and their ruthless attempt to "order" the world caused some to recall the legends of the Virtues. There was much discord among those part of the conclave though and not much progress was made - except that the Titans Grannus, Sequenna and Boreas stepped up to gather all information that could be found about the Virtues of old and codify them. This work was the foundation for the later Oracle. '''' Obsidian Wars The Obsidian Wars were the attempt of the Obsidian Empire to conquer all of Novia. Drachvald was first, followed by Midmaer and then South Paladis. During the wars the Cabal of the Obsidian created the formorian races of Elves, Satyr and Faun as well as raised Undead from enslaved humans using their chaos magic. Other formorians were the homunculi, flying creatures used to transport messages told to them as well as kobolds. Shaping humans into ogres turned out less successful. The second "version" of the Elves was employed as scouts to bring down Midras and into the fold of the Obsidian Empire. They were reported to be too aggressive still and unreliable as they would abandon post and attach in groups both the enemies with or without orders as well as the troops of the Obsidian Empire itself. The Captain of the Obsidian Army who was leading the attack on Midras and conquering it was Aren Bennis. After the fall of Midras he discovered the tomb of an Avatar below the ancient Midras temple. The body was gone but he found a longsword with runic inscriptions and the symbol of the Avatar that he took with him as battle prize. The sword enabled Aren to see into the hearts of people. He did not realize it but the sword was the one refered to in the Prophecy of the Obsidian Eye. But a Cabal member and Aren's friend Evard Dirae whom Aren send a message did make the connection and immediately headed to meet Aren. Meanwhile it had turned out Aren was the only one able to touch the sword. The embarrassment this discovery caused to his vain general, General Karpasic, led the former to send Aren on a scouting mission supposed to get rid of him. Aren and his companion Syenna re-discovered the ruins of Alabastia during this mission. He was betrayed Syenna, overwhelmed by the escort, and taken prisoner as to gain the sword for the Coalition of Might. As it turned out Syenna was a member of the Coalition. Since he was the only one who could wield it and there were several "Blades of the Avatar" he was brought to Opalis so the Coalition could research which sword it was and how to use it for their purpose of fighting the Empire. During the Obsidian Wars a rift formed between the Cabal and the Obsidian army as the four generals of the latter diverted slaves intended for the campaigns to construct a massive fortress at the Hilt going at least ten levels into the mountain and lava tubes with four gigantic warrior statues depicting each of the generals. Upon getting message of Aren being alive General Karpasic furthered the rift by ignoring a command where to move his army and instead marched on Opalis. He claimed that the rich and famous city and its treasures as well as the sword were important enough to warrant a detour. Meanwhile Aren met in Opalis the secluded Titans Grannus, Boreas and Sequanna and learned of their true origin. They told him of the approaching army and what it would do to Opalis. The influence of the sword, which would refuse him to harm anyone innocent as well as tell him sometimes about the true nature of someone and their personal story, swayed Aren to protect Opalis instead of re-joining the Obsidian Army. At the same time, the Council of Might demonstrated its name to be a mere facade as every member capable of sending military aid in time found excuses. Norgard even camped with an army just out of reach waiting for Opalis and the Obsidian Westreach Army to weaken each other before the latter would surely be victorious. Then Norgard planned to attack and defeat the remains of the Obsidian Army adding the remains of Opalis to their own realm. With a trick Aren managed to trick Karpasic letting him lead the population of Opalis (with its riches in scrolls and knowledge) safely away but the city itself had to be sacrificed to the attacking Empire out for plunder. With Grannus staying behind in Opalis Boreas had traveled to Norgard and Sequanna to Resolute to set the second part of their plan in notion. Norgards army marched on Opalis knowing that the Obsidian Army was plundering a city. They besieged the city while the Obsidian Army discovered that there was no treasure in Opalis of the kind they had expected - gold and gems - and all the remaining supplies had been poisoned. The siege prevented Karpasic attempt to follow Aren and take revenge. The general tried a sortie but the Norgard army had been well advised by Boreas and caused the Obsidian Army a devastating defeat. Sequanna had surrendered the populace of Opalis to Marshall Nimbus and thus the refugee stream was lead by Aren and Syenna to Resolute. The Obsidian Wars ended roughly 200 years ago with the Obsidian Empire vanishing. There is a novel available, The Sword of Midras, which can be bought as print version (Amazon etc) or is available DRM free in electronic form to describe the events of the Obsidian Wars. The Creation of The Oracle The Titans salvaged the failing machinery left to them to build a new device called The Oracle. Its task is to re-discover the lost knowledge about the Virtues brought by the Avatars, spread the information and guide the people in them - and to call the avatars back to New Britannia from their own worlds. The Oracle seems near omniscient and has knowledge of the aetherial technologies that drive the Moon Towers. Many city-states agreed to submit to the guidance of the Oracle not the least so they could gain access to the protection from the remains of the Obsidian Empire via the Moon Towers. With the creation of the Oracle roughly 400 PC modern times began and the current Age of Oracular Enlightenment started. Appearance of the Vertas Elves While the Obsidian Elves were ruthless killing machines and the race nearly driven to extinction after the Obsidian Wars with many humans still fostering strong hate against Elves, after the Obsidian Wars a group struggling to come to gripes with their violent past and enslavement by the Obsidian Empire has emerged. They call themselves the Vertas Elves and aim to settle in Novia, shape their own future and reach a status of peaceful coexistance with the other races. Presence While Novia still bears scars from the Cataclysm the survivors of that time have resettled the land. And indeed the Avatars have re-appeared recently to start a new chapter ... Unfortunately not all inhabitants of New Brittania are welcoming, in fact the Atavists of Purity are a violent group trying to get rid of the "Outlander" since the Dire prophecy foretells a possible repeat of upheaval of the world and not just a rosy future once the one "beyond the circle of sundered moons" appears. Several city states have formed and are governed by different structures or concepts, notably Lord British, a famous Outlander and Avatar who came back and rules Brittany. Norgard is ruled by Grannus the Titan. Ardoris retained its Shogunate. The Oracle knows of the path of three Principles of Virtue, Truth, Courage and Love/Compassion. And its mechanical watchers track and record people and their deeds and judges if they follow those principles. The Devotional Shrines for the 8 Virtues have been unburied or re-erected but the Cabalists try to destroy any settlement that dares to be home to one or more... Runic Alphabet There is a Runic online translator here. Fonts can be downloaded at * http://www.sotamuseum.com/Shroud_of_the_Avatar/RunicLanguage/NewBritanniaRunicFonts.zip * http://www.sotamuseum.com/Shroud_of_the_Avatar/RunicLanguage/NewBritanniaRunicMachineFont.zip * http://lycaeum.ultimacodex.com/?smd_process_download=1&download_id=1916 Category:Lore Category:World